Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Given New $53.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price upped by Citigroup from $41.00 to $53.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lowered shares of Equitable from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $43.45.

Equitable Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of EQH traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.93. 652,410 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,651,594. The stock has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.37. Equitable has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $43.53.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 29.72%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total transaction of $394,971.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares in the company, valued at $4,814,662.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.62, for a total transaction of $394,971.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 121,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,814,662.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 172,411 shares of company stock worth $6,627,658. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,265,815,000 after buying an additional 446,752 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,804,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,766,000 after buying an additional 637,916 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $606,630,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 1,161.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,692,000 after purchasing an additional 7,227,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,232,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,553,000 after purchasing an additional 18,475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.